The Week in Review: Even in “Defeat,” Solomini a Winner

The Zayat camp is upset their Solomini (Curlin) was disqualified after crossing the wire first in Saturday GI Los Alamitos Cash Call Futurity, firing off a number of angry tweets after the stewards ruled their colt interfered with Instilled Regard (Arch). I appear to be in the minority in that I believe the horse deserved to come down. Had Solomini not come over on Instilled Regard, I believe that horse would have finished second and not third. Yet, I can understand Zayat's frustration. It was far from an 'no-brainer' call and no one wants to get taken down in a Grade I race worth $300,000.

But once Team Zayat calms down maybe they'll look at the bigger picture: The Los Al race proved they have a really nice colt, one who figures to be a serious player come the time of the GI Kentucky Derby. Solomoni was the best horse in the race as he rather comfortably defeated a horse, 'TDN Rising Star' McKinzie (Street Sense), who was being touted as the next big thing. After finishing second, but well-beaten, in both the GI Front Runner S. and the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile, Solomini has clearly improved and, being that he's by Curlin, he should only get better with age and with more distance.

Both McKinzie, who was placed first, and Solomoni are trained by Bob Baffert.

Solomoni may not currently be as good as Good Magic (Curlin) or Bolt d'Oro (Medaglia d'Oro), but there's no reason why he can't turn out to be the best of his division in time. He showed a lot Saturday, no matter what the stewards might have thought.

So, officially, through disqualification, McKinzie is the winner of the 2017 Los Al Futurity. That's ten wins in this race for Baffert and four in a row. Though most of his prior winners turned out to be very good horses, only one, Real Quiet, went on to win the Derby. He was Baffert's first winner in this race.

Because the sport does not do nearly enough when it comes to recording its history, we're just going to have to guess when it comes to the record for a most wins by a trainer in a Grade I race. It looks like it's Charlie Whittingham's 14 wins in the San Juan Capistrano, which was still a Grade I in the era when Whittingham was dominating the race.

Baffert is young enough and loaded enough to perhaps break that record, if it is a record.

Ella es un Buen Caballo

Bragging rights in the Carribean Classic races run Sunday at Gulfstream were shared by Panama and Mexico, with both countries picking two wins. Venezuela also had a victory, while Puerto Rico was shut out. But the clear star on the day was the Mexican filly Jala Jala (Mex) (Point Determined), who won the featured $300,000 Carribean Classic by nine lengths under Irad Ortiz, Jr. She made a powerful move entering the far turn and then just sprinted away from the field.

Ortiz won three of the five races.

It's impossible to gauge how the top Latin American horses compare to American-based horses, but the team at the Beyer numbers apparently wasn't too impressed with Jala Jala. She got a 78 Beyer, comparable to what a $30,000 claimer might run in the U.S.

One of the more intriguing horses on the card was El Kurdo (Giacomo), who competed in the $91,200 Invitational Cup. Though bred in Kentucky, the horse wound up racing in Ecuador and then found his way into the barn of American trainer Chad Summers. How good is racing in Ecuador? Apparently, not very good. If the past performances are to be believed, in four of this horse's last five race the purse was $0. On Sept. 10, he ran in and won what must have been a huge race as the purse was $800. But it appears El Kurdo has some ability after all. He finished second, earning $18,240. In 36 prior starts, which include 17 wins, he had made all of $36,481.

Gulfstream took a chance that its handle would fall off a cliff Saturday because American bettors would be wary of playing races with only foreign horses whose form was almost impossible to decipher. The handle did fall, but only by a small margin. They bet $8,822,876 Saturday at Gulfstream, as opposed to $9,441,934 the year before. Excluding the horizontal bets, the Carribean Classic handled $1,092,649, more than the Pulpit Stakes, the last “normal” race on the program.

Neolithic was Money in the Bank

It was announced this week that Neolithic (Harlan's Holiday) will not start in the GI Pegasus World Cup and has instead been retired. His career was not marked by a string of victories, but by his ability to run well enough when it really mattered. Few horses have ever been better managed.

The horse won just three times and never won a stakes race. But he was hardly a failure. He ran third in both the inaugural Pegasus World Cup and the GI Dubai World Cup. That's why he retires with an astounding $2,278,028 in earnings.

Mo Mentum, Indeed

The first part of Saturday's card at Gulfstream featured a number of small stakes for 2-year-olds. These races can turn out to be showcase event for horses who were a bit late to develop but have a future. In fact, GI Belmont winner Tapwrit (Tapit) won on this day in 2016 in the off-the-turf Pulpit S.

There was another impressive winner of the Pulpit this year as Speed Franco (Declaration of War) won the turf race by six-lengths to earn 'TDN Rising Star' status.

But there was at least one other juvenile on the card that looks headed for some important wins down the road. In the opener, Miss Mo Mentum (Uncle Mo) could not have been an easier winner of the Hut Hut Stakes for owner Gary Barber and trainer Mark Casse. She won by 8 3/4 lengths and jockey Tyler Gaffalione never asked her to run.

What she is not is an overnight sensation. It took her four starts to break her maiden and it looks like Casse couldn't figure out if she is a dirt or turf horse. She's now made two straight starts on the dirt and won each one with ease. Wherever she goes next, which will no doubt be in a graded stakes, she'll be the one to beat.

Somehow, being by Uncle Mo, she got away for $50,000 at the 2016 Fasig Tipton Kentucky Fall Sale.

Up North, a Different Story for Casse

There are few things more certain in horse racing than that Mark Casse will win the training title at Woodbine. Entering this year he had won 10 straight and 11 overall. This season, as is the case every year, he was the prohibitive favorite to win an 11th straight title.

But trainer Norman McKnight had other ideas.

Casse went into yesterday's final day of the meeting with a one-win lead over McKnight and had starters in three races. But it appears McKnight was determined to win the title. He unloaded his barn yesterday and had starters in six races.

Casse never knew what hit him. McKnight won with his first four starters to clinch the title. Game, set, match.

McKnight's stable bears no resemblance to Casse's. He specializes in claiming horses and, unlike the powerful Casse team, rarely has a stakes runner.

McKnight started his career in racing as a harness driver and trainer. A fire at Mohawk racetrack devastated his stable and he decided to turn to Thoroughbreds. His first full year as a Thoroughbred trainer was 1999.